Richard Utt was book editor at the Pacific Press Publishing Association during the entire time of Merikay McLeod Silver's lawsuit against the press for alleged discrimination against women employees. In fact, Utt was responsible, according to his account, for having brought her to Pacific Press as a part-time student book editor.
It takes only 30 minutes to read Utt's account. He does not hesitate to point out that the press should have kept pace with the times and the new laws relative to equal pay for equal work. However, according to Utt's account, Merikay could have been more patient with the church, which undoubtedly moved slowly at times. He leaves one with the impression that Merikay could have achieved her desired objective without embarrassing the church.
In one interesting section Utt illustrates how difficult it is for an author to be objective in writing about people he or she does not like. He quotes phrases from Merikay's book Betrayal that show how she noted only negative physical characteristics of perceived opponents while describing her supporters in pleasing terms.
Although Utt was urged by a number of individuals to present the other side of the story, one wonders why this account was not published simultaneously with, or at least shortly after, Betrayal. It would be well for those interested in having a more balanced picture of what actually took place to secure this booklet and read it carefully.
